


Tertio

by scy



Category: Lucifer - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-01
Updated: 2010-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-05 14:44:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scy/pseuds/scy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Michael died, he passed his power on to Elaine, she didn't know how to deal with it. Lucifer may be of help, in his own way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tertio

**Author's Note:**

> The title is Latin, meaning 'thirdly.'

Elaine felt him standing beside her; although losing her sight had not made her any less aware of Lucifer, she hadn't been able to read him all that easily before, and blindness didn't make it any easier any. Looking in his direction was only helpful in that she was at least going through the motions.

Lucifer tended to let people nurture their crutches so long as it suited him, and as yet he hadn't commented on her condition. Thus far he'd confined his mockery to the subject of her clumsy handling of the Dunamis Demiurgos. For a first try with limitless power and no manual, she thought things were going rather well.

In spite of the fact that he obviously thought she had a long way to go, Lucifer wouldn't come out and say why she'd ended up having to step back so far. It was hard to make out whether he was being superior or trying to get her to learn a lesson through mistakes. So, in some small way she appreciated the chance to reach out clumsily and hold on. Therefore she took full advantage as he let her take steps close than had been appropriate while she could see the boundaries he kept between himself and almost every other being in both creations.

But ever since he had held Mr. Waddington back from death so that she could have revenge for Mona's death, he had allowed her to do more unorthodox things than any adult she'd ever met. Now he insisted on playing the part of her teacher, and it was frustrating. In his creation she had adjusted to her role as its guardian spirit and let her spirit assume a form that felt more natural. Yet none of the small workings there had adequately prepared her for doing the work of managing this power that she had accepted. Despite how unprepared she knew herself to have been at the outset, she had become the vessel of her father's burden, all the power that Yahweh had poured into him now sloshed and swirled around inside her as though she had put the settings of a blender on high and didn't yet know how to switch the dial to a calmer setting.

"Does it always feel like this?"

Lucifer flexed his wings with an uncharacteristic creak of what sounded like charred leather, and Elaine heard a wrenching sound that had to make movement agonizing. Apparently, the pain was dismissed as unimportant and he looked at her as he digested her question.

"You're referring to the power that Michael transferred to you?"

"Yeah, it's making me sick."

"An inelegant turn of phrase, but simplistically accurate. You must find a way to bring that power under your control, and make it a part of you, other wise it will continue to sicken you and most probably rip you apart."

"Oh, that's encouraging, you could think of something pleasant to help me out."

"And what sort of distraction would prove useful as well as meet your requirements?"

She glared in his general direction and hung onto his arm so that he couldn't step back as a rebuke. "You're the devil, I bet you can think of something. I mean, how would you have taken my father's mind off something like this? Didn't he have the same problem when Yahweh gave him this power?"

"At the time there were exponentially more avenues to take, and then Michael was not so readily rouse to anger."

Elaine felt the muscles of his arm flex under his coat, took that as one of his minute contemplative shifts in stance that she could no longer see. "But yes, there was one method I found effective to gather Michael's attention elsewhere." Then he moved, and Elaine cursed her blindness.

A hand came to cradle her head and she felt heat as he bent closer. She turned instinctively under the direction of his fingertips and met his lips with her own.

Surprise had parted her lips and as his tongue touched hers, she responded as though there was no other action imaginable.

Her pulse pounded in her ears and her hand clenched on his sleeve but he did not draw back until she closed her eyes and relaxed into the kiss.

Moving away slightly, Lucifer drew his fingers over her face, tracing her eyelids and lingering over her mouth.

Neither of them spoke or stirred and Elaine tried to figure out what he was thinking. One of the sights she already missed was his face. She wished she could see the way he was looking at her; that, more than his tone would give her a hint of his thoughts. As that was impossible, instead Elaine refused to let go of his arm. She felt him gazing at her and as his attention raised the temperature, her cheeks reddened.

He hadn't pulled back immediately after startling her, which was only surprising if one didn't read into the dramatics in such a withdrawal. Lucifer didn't make wild gestures the way other angels did. Of course, he wasn't exactly one of them anymore, and they wouldn't appreciate her chucking everyone with feathers into a single chariot, though, from what she'd seen, angels were a crowd of bullies. They seemed to feel that having wings and a flaming sword obligated them to go overboard with the 'children of heaven entitlement' thing.

Since finding out that she wasn't an otherwise normal girl who just happened to talk to the dead, see ghosts, and know what was going to happen before anyone else, she certainly hadn't wanted to be 'claimed' by any family that held itself above right and wrong simply because they thought they were the be-all-end-all authorities. Even the ones that thought they were only looking out for her best interests hadn't been able to win her over.

It was probably disloyal to say that she had been more at ease with Lucifer than her own father, but it was a matter of experience. She had been treated fairly by Lucifer; briefly known Michael, and thought that of the two, the devil was more likely to let her make her own choices. That didn't mean she would readily agree with every decision he made, but his reasoning made sense much of the time.

Lucifer wanted to be free, and that was a sentiment she shared. Despite how much time had passed since she had been a nearly ordinary girl, she felt the pull of who she had been underneath the fluttering trappings of her new form. First wings, then, death, rebirth, and lastly, a transfer of vast powers into her own body. That was quite a lot to take in when she paused to think about it, and the magnitude of such a realization was enough to keep the amount of time spent in deep contemplation to a minimum. After all, there were more than enough angels too caught up in their own heads to do anyone any good.

Unsurprisingly, Lucifer was never hesitant about letting her know when she was sinking too deeply into something, and as she staggered back into herself, trying to untangle the strands of glowing strength that seared her from inside, his fingers tightened sharply.

"Such inattention can only lead to a second effort at focusing your attention."

If that meant that he was going to kiss her again, Elaine couldn't say that she would mind all that much. He must have been able to guess at the direction of her thoughts, and while he didn't he didn't laugh at her, she almost wished that he had; Lucifer's smiles were an uncommon sight, and she hadn't been witness to one for a while.

"Well, if you can't snap me out of it any other way, I hope you'll do what you have to." She didn't think that she'd managed to get that out without smiling, but she couldn't see his reaction, so she considered that a victory.

"Necessity will be dealt with."

He made it sound as though some part of this was familiar and that if the old routine didn't work, he would see that it was improved upon. Yet, even the prospect of reworking something to his satisfaction didn't bring any audible joy to his voice and she felt the absence of the one being whose faith had only been tested by Lucifer's words. As she couldn't imagine not trusting him, the sensation of having another response was jarring.

"You miss him."

When he didn't answer, she acknowledged that expecting him to suddenly depart from his usual manner of dealing with Michael and letting her in on exactly what he was feeling was extremely presumptuous. He still didn't think that she was ready to handle one universe, let alone two of them, he wasn't going to confide in her. But she couldn't see him now and so if he wanted to nod in agreement, she would never know the difference.

She took his pause as all the agreement that would come her way and went back to trying to find an inner balance. For an instant, it felt like the reservoir of energy had been dammed up, and then she wobbled again and her control held only though an act of teeth gritting will.

"It helps if you try and take it in slowly rather than all at once," Lucifer said by her ear, and she surmised that he advice was an indication of his willingness to move on from the loss they'd suffered.

"Alright." Breathing evenly, she began to take small sips of power. As she rested between each gulp, she kept her grip on him tight and looked up.

"We have time, right?"

"Before departing, you will be able to wield the Dunamis Demiurgos," he answered with the unwavering certainty that never failed to make her feel secure.

His hand remained on her neck and he worked his fingers unhurriedly against her skin as she inhaled, exhaled, and took another sip.


End file.
